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Thursday, May 6, 2021

CORRECTION: Five US Senators Call for Reform before Ethiopian Elections

 In a 29 April 2021 letter to US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, five US senators expressed concern about the increase in ethnic violence in Ethiopia, urged reform before the 5 June parliamentary elections, and called for an independent investigation of human rights abuses throughout the country.  

The senior foreign policy advisor for Senator Cardin asked that I correct my interpretation of a sentence in the letter I described as a call for postponement of Ethiopia's 5 June election.  He points out that the senators were NOT calling for the elections to be postponed.  They were calling for electoral reforms to be done in order to build public confidence in the elections - which should be held as scheduled, but not in a manner that would exacerbate tensions and lead to violence.  

My apology for misinterpreting that part of the letter.